Most contractors who are missing from AI answers aren’t missing because of one big problem. It’s usually a handful of small gaps that add up. Here are the 10 we find most often, roughly in the order we’d fix them.
1. Give every service its own page
A single “Services” page listing roofing, gutters and siding gives AI tools very little to work with. A page for each service, explaining what you do, how long it takes and what it typically costs, gives them something specific to quote.
2. Name the cities you serve
If a homeowner asks for an HVAC company in a specific town, AI tools look for evidence that you work there. Create a page for each main city you serve, built on real jobs in that city. Copy-paste pages with only the town name changed don’t count, and Google treats them as spam.
3. Add structured data for your business
Structured data is code on your site that states facts in a form machines read easily: your business type, phone number, service area and hours. Schema.org has specific business types for contractors, including RoofingContractor, HVACBusiness and GeneralContractor.
4. Make your name and phone number match everywhere
Your website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp and the BBB should all show the same business name and phone number. Mismatches make AI tools less sure they’re looking at the same company.
5. Complete your Google Business Profile
Pick the right primary category, list every service, set your service areas and hours, and add photos of real jobs. Then do the same on Bing Places, which feeds Microsoft’s search.
6. Answer the questions homeowners ask, on your own site
Cost ranges, timelines, the insurance claims process, maintenance schedules. Answer them in plain language with your real numbers. A clear answer on your site is something an AI tool can cite; an answer that only exists in your head isn’t.
7. Ask every customer for a review
Ask every customer, not just the ones you expect to be happy, and ask them to mention the job and their town. Never pay for reviews, write them yourself or filter out unhappy customers before asking. It breaks Google’s rules, and fake reviews are illegal under FTC rules.
8. State your proof in words
Licenses, insurance, manufacturer certifications and warranties often appear only as logos in the footer. AI tools read text, so state them in plain sentences on your About page and relevant service pages.
9. Let AI search crawlers in
Check your site’s robots.txt file. If it blocks OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT search won’t show your site; blocking PerplexityBot or Bingbot has a similar effect on Perplexity and Copilot. Blocking GPTBot, which collects content for AI training, is a separate choice and doesn’t remove you from ChatGPT search.
10. Make the site fast on phones
Many homeowners will first see your site on a phone. Compress large photos, and keep important information as real text, not text inside images.
Then measure
After the fixes, ask the same questions in the same AI tools every month and record what changes. Our guide on checking whether ChatGPT recommends your company shows how.
Not sure which of these apply to you? Our free AI visibility check shows where you stand, with 3 quick fixes. Or start with the paid audit: at least 10 prioritized fixes in 10 business days, or your money back.
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Sources: OpenAI crawlers · Google: AI features and your website